Mackerel Sushi – Sushi Menu

What is mackerel sushi?

Mackerel is kind of fish which is usually found in abundance in considerable number of coasts.

It is also served as sushi and it can be really tasty if served fresh but unfortunately, it is very rarely served fresh.

Mackerel is grouped as a shiny fish, which are usually more economical in price because of their large quantity. They are also known to spoil very quickly, and Mackerel is notorious for being the quickest one to do so.

This is the reason using cured mackerel in sushi is a very common practice. Very high in omega-3 oils and Vitamin E, considered one of the healthiest sushi, but not the most popular.

Eating mackerel raw without professional advice is considered unsanitary. Mackerel can only be eaten raw right after it is caught; a delicacy enjoyed only by fishermen.

However, there are a few local fisherman in Japan (especially in the Kyushu region of southern Japan) that bring them in live, so they can be prepared as sushi or sashimi in its raw state, but it is a local delicacy and not common. Saba also requires quite a lot of skill to fillet, since the flesh breaks very easily.

Mackerel is very rich in oil and has a slight dry after taste. Very high in omega-3 oils and Vitamin E. Considered one of the healthiest sushi, but not the most popular.

How long you have to marinate mackerel for sushi?

In order to cure mackerel to be used for sushi, it is essential that you use the freshest Mackerel you can find. Remember this, the fresher the better. Other than that all you need is rice wine vinegar and salt.

Here’s the step by step guide on how to marinate mackerel:

First cut mackerel in to fillets, make sure you are really careful as Mackerel is a delicate fish and tend to break easily.

Pour generous amount of salt on each fillet, covering the entire flesh.

Leave it to marinate in a covered container for 3 to 4 hours.

Now it can be washed thoroughly with rice wine vinegar. You can also pour the vinegar into a container and dip your marinated mackerel into it.

This cured mackerel is called shime saba in Japan.

All over the world, the mackerel sushi is mostly prepared as so. Mackerel has been cured in Japan for centuries. It has also become popular in inland cities, such as Kyoto, which is famous for their own stick type mackerel sushi called the bo-sushi or bozuzshi.

Mackerel sushi taste

As tasty as the fresh mackerel might be, it loses most of its aroma and taste after being cured, leaving it only with a fishy scent (fish oil). It has a very strong and overpowering aftertaste which is the reason why people don’t prefer mackerel sushi in Japanese restaurants.

Wasabi does accentuate its taste to some extent, but it doesn’t do much the lingering aftertaste that can be due to over curing. Grated ginger and sliced scallions are often accompanied for this reason.

However, in Japan, chefs have figured out a way to serve mackerel in sushi without curing it. The reason why mackerel tend to spoil so quickly is that they are easily subjected to an infection caused by Anisakis. It is a kind of parasite which causes a grave stomach ache.

Japanese people love to eat raw fish; this is the reason why chefs in Japan have learned to remove the infected area cleanly off the mackerel. It is usually the area around their stomach. It is rich in oil and fat throughout the year but especially more in colder weather.

Sushi chefs claims that Saba Sushi is the tastiest of them all with the tendency to melt in your mouth when made with the vinegar rice.

However, whenever eating raw Saba, there are always some risks involves no matter how skilled the chef is. But people in Japan love Saba so much that they don’t care.